Kamala Harris will go down in history as the first woman, the first African-American, and the first Asian-American to hold the office of vice president of the United States.
She also has the dubious distinction of having the lowest net-negative rating of any modern vice president in a new poll – the lowest in the history of the NBC News poll in fact.
According to the newly released results, just 32 percent of registered voters said they had a positive view of VP Harris, compared to 49 percent who said they had a negative view, including 39 percent who expressed having a “very negative view.” Overall Harris had a net -17 rating, which NBC News noted was “the lowest for any vice president in the poll’s history.”
That is also significantly lower than the most recent former VP’s low numbers at around the same point in their respective terms.
By contrast, in October 2019, then-Vice President Mike Pence had a 34 percent positive and a 38 percent negative for -4 rating; while in December 2010, then-VP Joe Biden had a 34 percent positive and a 33 percent negative for a +1 rating. In May 2003, Dick Cheney was at 47 percent positive and just 24 percent negative for a +23 rating – and Al Gore was at 42 percent positive in March 1995, with a 27 percent negative for +15.
A Reflection of America or Kamala Harris?
There have been efforts to put a spin on why Americans have such a low approval of Harris, and some of the blame is on the deep national divide in the country.
“[It] shouldn’t surprise anyone that there is going to be a different filter and a different focus put on the first woman to ever be Vice President of the United States, particularly a woman of color,” Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher told Axios.
Belcher further suggested that the attitudes of vice presidents are typically on par with the approval of presidents. Currently, 41.9 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing, while 53.1 percent now disapprove, per FiveThirtyEight.
Can Her Image Be Reparied?
The poll numbers are still not at all what the White House likely expected as it has sought to repair her image ahead of the 2024 election.
“If you think about what matters to the American people, it’s what the Vice President is actually doing and when the American people see her in action every day … I think the enthusiasm and energy is palpable,” White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients also told Axois on Monday. “We just need to make sure that we do a good job of exposing (her to the American public).”
Harris has kept a relatively low profile in recent months, but it has been expected that she could appear more frequently to tout popular Democratic policy issues – notably abortion rights and infrastructure spending. There are already some in the Democratic Party that fear it could be too late to rehabilitate the vice president’s image.
Critics of the Biden/Harris administration were quick to react to the findings of the poll on social media, Fox News reported.
It will be voters who may ultimately decide if they’re ready to have Kamala Harris take over should Biden not be able to serve for a second full term as president – and currently the polls would suggest they’re not seeing it.
Author Experience and Expertise:
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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